IN THE SPOTLIGHT - ZINEDINE ZIDANE

He may yet be stripped of the Golden Ball award by Fifa after his head butt on Italy defender Marco Materazzi in last Sunday’s World Cup final.

However, in the wake of exhaustive media commentary, lip-reading analysis and an interview given by Zidane to French television, sympathy for the 34-year-old playmaker is growing.

‘‘They were hard words . . . very serious and very personal,” Zidane told French television on Wednesday. ‘‘It concerned ...